Thomas Clapp migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Directory, by R. C. Anderson, p. 65) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm
“The will of Nicholas Clapp of Venotry in the County of Devon was made on his death-bed March 12, 1681, and proved on March 29, 1681. He gave to the poor people of the parish of Sidbury 10s. and to the poor of Venotry 3s. 4d. To Jane Clapp, Thomas Clapp, Barbara Clapp, Radagond Clapp, John and Ambrose Clapp, his children, fourscore pounds each from the profits of his lands and tenements in Venotry, to be paid at the rate of nineteen pounds a year. If any child died before time of payment, his share to be equally divided amongst the others. He made arrangements for prepayment if any of the four youngest children "shall be willing to putt themselves to any arte or trade. To Elizabeth, his wife, a feather-bed performed (i.e. furnished), six pewter dishes, potts and a middle pan of brass, a chest, two coffers and the use of other household stuff for her life. To son Thomas, his third best pot of brass. To each of his daughters Jane, Barbara and Redagon, a brazen pan. To his son Nicholas Clapp, a pewter dish. Residue to Richard Clapp, his eldest son and heir, to whom he gave his lands and tenements in Venotry. Executor: son Richard Clapp. Overseers: his sons-in-law Francis Pile and Hercules Searles, to each of whom 21s. Witnesses : Nie Putt, Wm Winter, Christopher Whitmore.”
“Children…. Thomas3 Clapp … born in SIdbury, co. Devon about 1609… In 1630.. went to New England..died in Scituate Apr 20, 1684”
The earliest comprehensive account of this Clap family was Ebenezer Clapp's The Clapp Memorial. Record of the Clapp Family in America ... (Boston, MA: 1876), pp. 91-94. Brief mention was made in 1889 in NEHGR 15:255 (1861) and NEHGR 43:429 (1889). Mary Lovering Holman prepared The Scott Genealogy . . . (Boston 1919) p 22, 229 and Ancestry of Colonel John Harrington Stevens and his wife Frances Helen Miller (n.p. 1948) 1:280. In 1959 Edith Bartlett Surnner produced Edith Bartlett Sumner, Descendants of Thomas Farr of Harpswell, Maine, and Ninety Allied Families (Los Angeles 1959) 61-641. In 1945 Walter Goodwin Davis published an account in The Ancestry of Joseph Neal, 1769-c.1835 (Portland, Maine, 1945) 87-93. In 1992 a brief mention was made of Thomas Clapp by Gale Ion Harris in “Captain Richard Wright of the Twelve-Mile Island and the Burnhams of Podunk” in The American Genealogist 67:38. In 2001 Robert Charles Anderson, George F. Sanborn Jr. and Melinde Lutz Sanborn produced account in The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 (Boston, MA: NEHGS 2001) 2:76-81. According to Robert Charles Anderson all of these accounts were superseded by the study of the Clapp family by Dean Crawford Smith and Melinde Lutz Sanborn in The Ancestry of Eva Belle Kempton, 1878-1908, Part IV: The Ancestry of Linda Anna Powers, 1839-1879 (Boston, MA: NEHGS 2000) 114-195. Anderson should know as he is editor and peer reviews the NEHGS publications and Melinde Lutz Sanborn was co-author of the Great Migration series. This is the most comprehensive study of the Clapp family ever published and includes extensive records from England. What does this study conclude? Thomas Clapp was son of Nicholas Clapp. Per PGM policy unless other more recent peer reviewed sources are presented we go by Anderson’s judgement. No other sources exist. Therefore the father of this profile should be changed to Nicholas Clapp.[1][2][3]
Robert Charles Anderson and Melinde Lutz Sanborn in The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635 (Boston, MA: NEHGS 2001) 2:76-81 link write:
"A second group of Clap siblings... came to New England: NICHOLAS CLAP {1637, Dorchester}, THOMAS CLAP {1638, Weymouth}; John Clap, who was in New England by the 1640s; Prudence Clap, wife of our Edward; Barbara Clap, wife of JOSEPH WELD {1635, Roxbury}; and Radigon Clap, who rnarried John Capen, son of BERNARD CAPEN {1633, Dorchester} Joseph Neal Anc 88-89; Scott Gen 227-30; Stevens-Miller Anc 1:278). Another sister, Jane Clap, was almost certainly wife of JOHN ALDERMAN {1634, Dorchester} {GM 2: 1:20-23}."
Note these were all the children of Nicholas Clapp per Melinde Lutz Sanborn in Kempton Ancestry: Nicholas Clapp named his children in his will: James, Thomas, Barbara, Radegon, John and Ambrose [Inquisition indented taken 2nd May 9 Charles [I][1633] of Nicholas Clapp died 12th March 7 Charles [1631/2] also Richard and Nicholas son and next heir were "24 years or more" on 2 May 1633. i.e 1609 or later. Thomas Clapp in Plymouth Colony Deed 4:176 deposed aged 69 in 1678 i.e. born 1608. Thomas died 20 Apr 1684. Thomas m/1 Jane ___ b say 1617 d bef Jan 1556 m/2 Abigail (Wright) Sharp b abt 1623 d btw 28 Nov 1702 (will) and 13 Feb 1707/8 (proved). Jane was mother to his six children. John Clapp in 1655 named in his will his brother Thomas Clapp and his children Elizabeth, Prudence, Samuel and "the rest of his children." [Suffolk Probate 1:111]. Thomas rec'd legacy from his father Nicholas 1631 and sailed 1637,Hingham lists 13 Mar 1638; Sidbury, Devon, England 5 Jun 1644; Transcription of Will and Inventory p 134-137
From Kempton Ancestry page 132 published in 2000 written by the co-author of The Great Migration and peer reviewed at NEHGS by Anderson:
"THOMAS1 CLAPP (Nicholas(A) Richard(B)), presumably born in Sidbury, Devonshire, England, about 1608; died in Scituate, Mass., 20 April 1684; married first say 1637 JANE __, born say 1617, died before January of 1656[/7?] when her husband is known to have remarried, kinswoman of Joan (Upham) Martin of Rehoboth; married second after January of 1655 and before 15 January 1656[17?]76 ABIGAIL (WRIGHT) SHARP, born in England about 1623 died between 28 November 1702 when she wrote her will and 13 February 1707[/8?] when her will was proved,79 daughter of RICHARD and MARGARET (__) WRIGHT.
Citations: Plymouth Colony Deed 4:176; Walter Goodwin Davis, The Ancestry of Joseph Neal, 91; Suffolk Probate 3:67,; Suffolk File #5400; Plymouth Probate #10242; Suffolk Probate 4:228; Scituate YR 2:397.
JOHN1 Clapp (Nicholas(A) Richard(B)), born say 1616; died in Dorchester, Mass., between 11 July 1655 when he wrote his will [Suffolk Probate 1:111] This very interesting will made when he suffered from "sicknes & great weakenes of body," named his wife, "my dear and loving brother Ambrose Clap [clearly still in England from the context of the will]", "my dear brother Richard Clap in England"; "my loving brother-in-law Edward Clap", "my loving cousins Richard and Elizabeth Clap children of my brother Richard Clap"; "my loving cousin Deborah Clap, daughter of ye said brother"; "my
loving cousins Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Sarah and Hannah, brother Nicholas' children"; "my loving cousins Elizabeth, Prudence, and Samuel Clap children of my brother Thomas Clap"; "ye rest of his [Thomas'] children"; "my cousin John Capen"; "my dear and loving cousins Roger Claps children"; "my brother Nicholas, my brother Edward and my cousin Roger Clap."
Biography
Thomas Clapp was born at Dorchester, England in 1597 [sic see disputed parents section above Robert Charles Anderson and Melinde Lutz Sanborn in The Great Migration Begins and Kempton Ancestry state he was son of Nicholas Clapp in the latest research published by NEHGS][4] son of Richard, and came to New England with his brothers. He was at first at Dorchester c1630-33, then Weymouth, and in 1640 settled at Scituate where his farm was on the northwest of the Stockbridge Mill Pond. [5][6][7][8]
In the will of John Clapp of Dorchester, 11: 5: 1655 [July 11, 1655] bequests were left to (among others):
brother Ambros Clapp
brother-in-law Edward Clapp
brother Richard Clapp, still in England, cousins Elizabeth, Richard and Deborah, his children
my brother Nicholas' children, being cousins Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Sarah and Hannah
cousins Elizabeth, Prudence and Samuel Clapp, children of my brother Thomas Clapp 8s each, a 5s to Thomas' remaining children
He married first, by 1639, Jane __ (?Martin) at Scituate or Weymouth, Massachusetts. [15] In the will of Joanna Martin, widow of Robert Martin, dated April 6, 1668, she made a bequest to 'my cousin Clapp his children which he had borne by my kinswoman Jane Clapp ( being six of them) ...' [16][17]
He married about 1657, widow Abigail (Wright) Sharpe, possibly at Dedham. [18][19]
Thomas Clapp born in Weymouth March 15, 1639 (vol. 5: p. 28)[20]; died about 1691, will proved on Jan. 29, 1691; married Mary Fisher November 10, 1662; removed to Dedham (now Walpole). [6][7]
Increase probably born in May, 1640; baptized at Dorchester that month; married widow Elizabeth (Bursley) Goodspeed at Barnstable in October, 1675. [7]
Eleazer born at Scituate; [6] removed to Barnstable: killed March 15, 1676 in a battle with the Narragansetts. Likely unmarried. [7] His inventory was taken on "the 12 of the 4th 1676 at Barnstable and his brother Samuel made oath to the truth of the inventory on 12 June 1676. His inventory included house, land meddows, a shop and "wages for service to the courty due to him."[21]
Samuel Clapp born ___ at Scituate; married Hannah Gill of Hingham May 14, 1666.[6][22]
Elizabeth born ___at Scituate; died in 1698; married Deacon Thomas King Jr. on April 20, 1669. [6][7][22]
Prudence born ___; was unmarried at the time her father made his will in 1684. [6][7]
Children by Abigail Wright
John born October 18, 1658 at Scituate; died in 1671.[4][22][6][7]
His will is dated 29 April 1684 in his 87 year of his age. He mentions his wife Abigail, and his children, Thomas Clapp, Samuel Clapp, Increase Clapp, Elizabeth King, Prudence Clapp, Abigail Clapp, Mary Tilden, and his grandchild, Elizabeth. His inventory was taken on 29 May 1684.[23]
Source notes
New England Marriages
CLAPP, Thomas (?1609-1684) & 1/wf [?Jane MARTIN] (2/wf ____); by 1639; Weymouth/Scituate (p. 318)
SHARP, Robert (? 1617-1656) & Abigail WRIGHT (?1622 - ) m/2 Thomas CLAP 1656?; m/3 William HOLBROOK aft 1679, 1684+; b 1643; Roxbury. (p. 663)
CLAP, Thomas ( -1684) & Abigail (WRIGHT) [SHARPE] w Robert, m/3 William HOLBROOK, 1684+; after Jan 1655, 1656?; Deham, Weymouth, Scituate.(p. 154)[15]
Scituate Births
Clap, John s. Thomas Oct. 18, 1658. [Clappe CR 2]. (p. 73)
Clapp, Samuel and Hannah Gill, June 14, 1666. (p. 65)
Clapp, Elizabeth and Thomas Ring April 20, 1669. (p. 73) [22]
Sources
↑ TAG: Vol. 67: p. 38 (1992): in identifying the husbands of Abigail Wright, indicates husband Thomas Clap was born c1609 at Sidbury, Devon, England, son of Nicholas Clapp, but doesn't provide a source for the information.
↑ NEHGR: Vol. 43: p. 429 (1889): lists Letters of Admon. Estate of Richard Clapp late of Clotworthhill, Devon, June 23, 1613, to son Thomas Clapp and daughter Thomasine Clapp but does not further identify which Clapp line is being referred to.
↑ His brother Nicholas, identified as 4th son of Richard NEHGR: Vol. 15: p. 255 (1861) His sister Prudence, identified as daughter of Nicholas Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F p. 79
↑ 4.04.14.24.3 Vol. 99: pp. 240-2: Vital Records from The NEHGS Register. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Compiled from articles originally published in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.)
↑ 5.05.15.25.3 Whittemore, Henry. The Signers of the Mayflower Compact and Their Descendants, Mayflower Publishing Company, New York , 1899
↑ 6.06.16.26.36.46.56.66.76.8 Emery, Samuel Hopkins. History of Taunton, Massachusetts: From Its Settlement to the Present Time, D. Mason & Company, Syracuse, New York, 1893, p. 199
↑ 7.007.017.027.037.047.057.067.077.087.097.107.117.127.13 Clapp, Ebenezer, compiler. Record of the Clapp Family in America, Containing Sketches of the Original Six Emigrants, David Clapp & Sons, Publ., Boston, Massachusetts, 1876
↑ Volume 14: p. 5: Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20. (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.)
↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 5, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1851 p. 443
↑ The New England Genealogical and Historical Register, Volume 60, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1906 p. 37-8
↑ Massachusetts: Miscellaneous Censuses Substitutes, 1630–1788, 1840, 1890, p. 1739 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. From records supplied by Ancestry.com)
↑ Volume 7: p. 20: Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.)
↑ Anderson, Robert C. William Sprague in: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995).. p. 1738
↑ Anderson, Robert C. Timothy Hatherly in: The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), (Originally Published as: New England Historic Genealogical Society. Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III, 3 vols., 1995). p. 878
↑ 15.015.115.2 New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Vol. 1, page 318: {Rice-Cottrell 31; Stevens-Miller 278; Blake-Glidden 67; Davis: Anc. of Joseph Neal 90, 100; Warner-Harrington 116.
↑ Anderson, Robert C. John Upham in: Great Migration 1634-1635, T-Y. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VII, T-Y, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011, p. 155
↑ Anderson, Robert C. Robert Martin in: Great Migration 1634-1635, M-P. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2007., p. 60
↑ 18.018.118.218.3 Anderson, Robert C. Robert Sharp in: Great Migration 1634-1635, Volume VI: R-S, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, p. 255-9 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Originally published as: The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume VI, R-S, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009.
↑ Harris, Gale Ion. Captain Richard Wright of Twelve Mile Island and the Burnhams of Podunk in: The American Genealogist, Vol. 67, New Haven, Connecticut, 1992, p. 38 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)
↑ Great Migration Newsletter, V.1-20.(Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.)
↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-V3C7 : 9 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 386 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
↑ 22.022.122.222.322.4 Vital Records of Scituate Massachusetts to the Year 1850, NEHGS, Boston, Massachusetts, 1909
↑ "Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Probate Records, 1633-1967," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-897D-V391 : 15 March 2023), Wills 1633-1686 vol 1-4 > image 570 of 616; State Archives, Boston.
Directory of the anc. heads of New England fams. Comp. By Frank R. Holmes. NewYork, 1923. (274p.):48 Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941.( The greatest single source of material for gen. Data for the N.E. area and for the period 1600-1800. Completely indexed in the Index.): 10 Jul 1916, 5593; 13 Nov 1916, 5593; 11 Jul 1917, 6429; 30 Dec 1918, 6770; 5 May 1919, 7512; 17 Nov 1920, 8454; 5 Apr 1926, 4040; 14 Apr 1926, 4092; 18 May 1927, 4577; 27 Mar 1929, 8371; 6 May 1932, 3332; 14 Jul 1932, 3737; 18 Jul 1932, 4093; 15 Jun 1933, 6602; 13 Feb 1935, 9769; 20 Feb 1935, 9769;
Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Massachusetts Census, 1790-1890. Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes.
Clapp-2308 and Clapp-29 appear to represent the same person because: Same birthdate; places differ, but no sources on -2308. Same spouse Jane (unknown). Son Samuel, with same birth info on both profiles (will set for merge). Same death date, place on -2308 is incorrect. Please merge.
You are looking at an 140 year old text written in 1876, since then additional research has been completed.
Widow Abigail (Wright) Sharp married Thomas Clapp, son of Nicholas. See: TAG: 67: 1992: p. 38 and Robert Sharp in GM: VI: p. 257-8 Thomas Holbrook in GM:III: p. 353 Richard Wright GM: I-III: p. 2073
I don't see that it does, Chris. There is no indication of how Joanna Martin and Jane Clapp are related, so no basis for assuming her name is Martin or any other name for that matter.
Regarding Joanna Martin's will, mentioned below, it is transcribed here on MD 17:112.
She says, "It is my will That my Cozen Clapp his Children which hee had borne by my Kinswoman Jane Clapp (being six of them) have ten shillings apeece."
That will is noted in the Bio section under Marriages, but it says 'cousin Clapp and kinswoman Jane Clapp' ... but doesn't confirm her maiden name as Martin?
Picking through Torrey's sources, it's not Savage (who does not name his wives);
Torrey's sources:
Warner-Harrington 116 Ancestry of Samuel, Freda and John Warner;
Davis: Anc. of Joseph Neal 90; Reg 7:178; MD 17:112; Clapp 105; SV 1:391; Mrs. Duley; Drown (ms) 82; Bos. Trans. 11 Jun 1928; Scott (1919) 231; Woodbury (1904) 172
It appears that the first wife's name is an assumption based on the will of Joanna Martin of Rehoboth, dated 6 Apr 1668, in which she names a "cousin Clapp, and kinswoman Jane Clapp." See NEHGR 7:178. (I have not dug deeper).
married John Capen at Dorchester in 1637, https://www.americanancestors.org/DB405/i/14132/19/258733087
............................................................
Widow Abigail (Wright) Sharp married Thomas Clapp, son of Nicholas. See: TAG: 67: 1992: p. 38 and Robert Sharp in GM: VI: p. 257-8 Thomas Holbrook in GM:III: p. 353 Richard Wright GM: I-III: p. 2073
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wright-643
She says, "It is my will That my Cozen Clapp his Children which hee had borne by my Kinswoman Jane Clapp (being six of them) have ten shillings apeece."
Torrey's sources: Warner-Harrington 116 Ancestry of Samuel, Freda and John Warner; Davis: Anc. of Joseph Neal 90; Reg 7:178; MD 17:112; Clapp 105; SV 1:391; Mrs. Duley; Drown (ms) 82; Bos. Trans. 11 Jun 1928; Scott (1919) 231; Woodbury (1904) 172
It appears that the first wife's name is an assumption based on the will of Joanna Martin of Rehoboth, dated 6 Apr 1668, in which she names a "cousin Clapp, and kinswoman Jane Clapp." See NEHGR 7:178. (I have not dug deeper).